With news of Conor McGregor’s potential return to The Ultimate Fighter house as a coach making the rounds, multiple names have been thrown around as the Irishman’s probable rival. One of the big names is Michael Chandler, who, with just a tweet, has already thrown his name into the hat. Although the UFC clearly won’t face any possible lack of an opponent for Conor McGregor, there is certainly one individual who will never make himself available in this case.
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Khabib Nurmagomedov, in an interview days before UFC 254, had revealed his feelings about coaching TUF opposite the Irishman. The Dagestani could be heard dismissing any chances of joining TUF with McGregor, even for an obscene amount of money.
Right before facing Justin Gaethje, Khabib Nurmagomedov dismissed the idea of coaching TUF alongside Conor McGregor
While speaking to Brett Okamoto, in an interview dated 13th October 2020, Nurmagomedov elaborated on his decision to turn down the TUF offer. The statement from the undefeated fighter was more of a reflection of his dislike towards McGregor.
Nurmagomedov clearly believed that his choice to coach alongside McGregor would just be giving the Irishman unwanted attention.
Even if they give me $5 billion — even if they give me the UFC — I [would] never do this.”@TeamKhabib won’t give Conor McGregor “good attention” by coaching TUF against him 🚫 (via @bokamotoESPN) pic.twitter.com/SVOI2YNCv3
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 13, 2020
“This ultimate fighter with him, this is good attention for him. I don’t wanna give him this. I never give him this.” stated ‘The Eagle’.
The Dagestani also talked about how even an obscene amount of money won’t be able to sway him from his decision: “Even if they give me 5 billion dollar, even they give me UFC, I never do this. This is good attention for him. Everything is done. October 6th, I finish him and I finish everything about him.” stated Nurmagomedov, pointing to his win against McGregor.
Maybe it’s just the pure enmity between the duo that made the undefeated Russian commit to his decision. However, it surely would have been a spectacle if this would have gone through.
McGregor might be a part of the new TUF season as per his Instagram post
In exciting news involving the Irishman, an Instagram post by ‘The Notorious’ himself revealed UFC’s plan for the new TUF season. McGregor mentioned an offer as a coach without disclosing any possible timeline. While this is certainly big news, there has been no confirmation apart from Dana White sharing the post himself.
View this post on Instagram
The former double champ also had a successful season in TUF 22 when he was a part of the show alongside Urijah Faber. Both the coaches went on to have one of the most popular seasons of the show; with Artem Lobov being one of the fighters on that season. This time around, there could be many names to coach alongside McGregor. As reported earlier, Michael Chandler clearly might be one of the fan favorites.
Watch This Story: Five times Conor McGregor and Jose Aldo showed they are best friends
Although there can be multiple options to choose from for the UFC, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s previous interview clearly means that the Dagestani would not be available. Nurmagomedov has anyway announced his retirement from coaching recently and it clearly shuts down any rumors about him joining TUF.
Which fighter do you think should coach opposite McGregor? Let us know in the comments below.
